The Grand Strand is chocked full of restaurants and some of the best are Italian. If you are looking for a good meal from the Old Country, we surveyed a group of hard-eating locals and have produced a list of the area’s five best Italian restaurants.
If pasta, homemade marinara and scampi are atop your wish list, here are five restaurants that will send you home happy:
1. Rossi’s – Quite simply the best. Superior food, service and atmosphere. The meal starts with homemade garlic bread and whether your entrée selection is traditional Italian, beef, veal or seafood you are in good hands. A couple suggestions: the Italian Sampler – lasagna, chicken parm, a (large) meatball and sausage and peppers – is a great choice if you are indecisive and the fried lobster is to die for. For post-meal entertainment, Eighty-Eights is an in-house piano bar that stays open until 2 a.m.
2. Umberto’s - A Pittsburgh-style Italian restaurant, the Umberto’s at Barefoot Landing delivers a meal that is as good as it is big. Every entrée includes bean soup, salad and garlic bread. The fried provolone is delectable, and there is no way you will leave Umberto’s hungry. No way. The center cut pork chops are hard to beat. 
3. Luigi’s – Located on 61st Avenue, Luigi’s, in the word’s of one of our pollsters, is “small, locally owned and authentic Italian food.” It’s less expensive than Rossi’s and worth a try.
4. Angelo’s – This is a regular on our top 5 lists. Angelo’s is almost unanimously regarded as one of the area’s best steak houses, and the traditional Italian fare is equally enticing. We aren’t generally advocates of buffets, but the one at Angelo’s is the exception. The lasagna is outstanding, and the steak is a guaranteed winner.
5. Villa Romano – Opened in 1985, Villa Romano’s has one of the area’s most interesting Italian menus. You dine among statues, chandeliers, columns, a centerpiece fountain, live plants and red roses. The food is authentic Italian and the Veal Absolute, a family creation, is atop the menu choices.
Any qualms with our list? Share your favorite Italian restaurants.
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